DONALD BIRCHIP Phone: 5497 1222 Phone: 5492 2735 Email: The Buloke Times Fax: 5492 2863 [email protected] Email: [email protected] birchipblc@ Est. 1875 bigpond.com Published Tuesdays and Fridays PRICE (inc. G.S.T.) $2 PP331336/0000 1 Friday, June 4, 2021 For the Shire of Buloke, and the districts of Birchip, Charlton, Donald, St. Arnaud, Watchem and Wycheproof Rally to Scrap Camping Regulations The Nationals Member for Lowan, Emma Kealy, joined hundreds of landholders from across Victoria on the steps of Parliament rallying against the State Government’s flawed camping regulations. The rally came just days This is in direct contrast after the Victorian Nationals to Labor, which plans to force passed an urgent motion at landholders with licenced the party’s state conference crown water frontage to condemning the Andrews allow people to camp for up Government for its policy. to 28 days from September “If The Nationals are this year. elected to government next Labor is also developing year we will amend this an app to show people flawed legislation to allow where licenced crown water landholders to opt-in to al- frontage exists, and where lowing camping on licenced unmarked roads can facili- crown water frontages,” Ms tate access to that frontage. Kealy said. “That means it will only Ms Kealy said the occur on licenced crown water anomalies that existed in the frontage where landholders regulations were unwork- actively choose to have peo- able and unacceptable. • Member for Lowan Emma Kealy (far right) with members of The Nationals, including leader Peter Walsh (front, centre), ple camp.” • Continued on page 2. at the rally. Potential Club When it Comes Merger Aborted to Polishing, The “Bendigo Advertiser’s” Luke West reported in Saturday’s edition that a merger between Charlton and Wycheproof-Narraport football clubs Sunny Shines has been aborted, and both the Navy Blues and Demons will remain stand- alone clubs in the North-Central League next year, after the proposal didn’t receive the required support. Wycheproof-Narraport members who voted, only 20 soon. There’s people moving conducted a meeting on Sun- per cent were in favour of out of Melbourne, but they’re day, May 23, with 82% of merging with the Demons. not moving to places like members eligible to vote being (75% of members needed to Wycheproof and Charlton, in favour of merging with support the proposal for the they’re moving to Bendigo, near neighbour, Charlton. merger to go ahead.) so we’ve just been trying to However, the merger get on the front foot. proposal was skittled on the Wycheproof-Narraport following Wednesday night, club secretary, Rory White, is “We’ve now spoken to our when Charlton members over- quoted as saying, “There’s two closest neighbours in whelmingly voted against it. shrinking populations all over Nullawil and Charlton, and According to the “Bendigo country Victoria and it’s not gone through the process. Advertisier”, of the Charlton going to change any time We’ll keep our lines of com- munication open for any club that may want to have a chat moving forward, but for the moment, we’ll continue to go on our way as is.” An Invitation... for Ag businesses Charlton Football Club and farm service industries president, Shane Fitzpatrick, to submit advertising now said that like any country club, the lack of junior num- bers coming through is his club’s biggest issue. “This year we’re as good • Sunny Slocombe and daughter Sue Davis, with the polished Kara Kara Pennant Cup. as we have been for a long The success of the Birchip ladies’ pennant team was recently reported time with our juniors num- in the “Buloke Times’’, and last week Sunny Slocombe kindly polished bers, because we’ve got 22 running around in both teams the silverware for the ladies to display proudly. Advertising is invited for the (under-16s and under-13s). Sunny grew up with her Sunny moved to Birchip where she helped out with June issue of the Mallee Farmer grandmother in South Aus- in 1949 with her husband, farming activities, and cared “But we know there will tralia, and she said, “Polish- Norm, whom she had met in for her family. be years to come when we ing the family silver was an Melbourne, where her par- When Sunny moved into Contact this newspaper for details will be short of numbers, so and to arrange bookings activity we used to do regu- ents lived. Birchip many years after that’s why we’d be silly not to larly, and I loved seeing the Sunny and Norm lived on Norm passed away, she Monthly supplement for The Buloke Times, Sea Lake & Wycheproof Times Ensign, explore another avenue if it’s ‘good silver’ all polished up.” the farm for many years, • Continued on page 2. North West Express and Robinvale Sentinel. put in front of you.” And to complete the fourfold cutback, Saturday, Three Different Worlds July 3, has been booked by North-Central as another First, there are the States of Western Australia, total day off, so the one issue of the “Times” in the fol- South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and lowing week will be on Friday, July 9. Tasmania, and the Northern Territory, all of them doing FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 2021 reasonably well in coping with the Coronavirus. From then on, who knows? Things should be get- ting “back to normal”, but given the events of the past Then there’s Victoria — or should we say Mel- Locally, and because our country communities are so couple of months, don’t bank on it. bourne? — totally and hopelessly incapable of managing closely connected to winter sporting activities, the * the menacing interloper, but still finding ways to allow closure of these major weekend carnivals has already football, at its highest level, to cross closed borders and Done – and Dumped caused the “Times” to cut publication this week from Not only was round 7 of North-Central football, keep on playing. two issues to one — today’s. Running a distant third is country Victoria, the netball and hockey cancelled. “grass roots” of the game, caught up in the “total lock- But wait, there’s more. Confronted with another So were hundreds of copies of the official booklet, down”, meaning that, for the second week in a row wipeout tomorrow, and a continued lockdown, the “The Recorder”, the production of which was completed there will be no North-Central football, netball or newspaper will again be forced to limit, temporarily, its shortly before the announcement of the lockdown of hockey. And this outcome, believe it or not, in an area output to once a week, that next date being Friday, June 11. the State, midway through Thursday of last week. totally free of corona cases. Worse still, immediately afterwards, comes the It’s a frustrating and costly outcome for the League On the commercial business front, the impact has Queen’s Birthday holiday, on Monday, June 14. So, – particularly in an area of Victoria free of the virus been, in many instances, nothing short of devastating. again, just one issue that week, on Friday, June 18. from the very beginning. Jas Enjoys Life in Birchip Jasleen (Jas) Kaur recently graduated from La Trobe University, Shepparton Campus, with a Bachelor of Nursing, and is now undertaking her graduate year with East Wimmera Health Service and Ballarat Base Hospital. Coming from India, Jas chose the Shepparton Campus of La Trobe University for the relaxed lifestyle of the regions and better post-study opportu- nities, and it is pleasing she has now chosen to commence her nursing career in the country. Jas has been undertaking her graduate year at the Birchip Campus of East Wim- mera Health Service, and this week she has commenced a three month placement at Bal- larat Base Hospital. “I knew nursing was my calling when visits to the hos- pital would leave me yearning to do more to help during my placements whilst I was an In- ternational student with La Trobe,’’ said Jas. As an advocate for the rural life, Jas said the smaller • Jasleen (Jas) Kaur. country university campuses vided me with better learn- helpful, and will bend over gave her a taste for rural life. ing,” she said. backwards to help you. I re- “The smaller study groups “Shepparton has a real ally felt so lucky to have this at the Shepparton campus community feel, easier to small, very friendly family.” helped me get more attention meet and get to know people, Jas has fitted in well with from my lecturers and pro- easier to be recognised. All Birchip, having joined the the staff members and stu- Birchip-Watchem Hockey dents are just like one little Club, and the community is When it Comes family. looking forward to her return “Every single person on after her Ballarat placement to Polishing, campus I have known is very has finished. Sunny Shines • Continued from page 1. Aussie Flick at Rex: continued to cook meals for son Neil during harvest and “June Again” sowing well into her 80s. • Giant Jenga, one of the headspace Swan Hill activities, looks about to topple, and nerves Sunny, now in her 93rd. of steel are needed as Erika Payne sizes it up with Chloe James and Bridie Reid looking on. At the time of writing it’s hoped that the COVID year, is a resident at Wirrim lockdown will have ended and that the Rex will be op- Lodge in Birchip, and enjoys erational for this weekend’s screening of the Australian spending her spare time pol- movie “June Again” (M 99 minutes).